Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or related characters, places, objects, etc.

Chapter Ten

Of the people who had auditioned for the two remaining Chaser positions, Harry felt that only two people really stood out. Ginny was one of them, along with a fourth year, Shelton. In the flying games, the two of them out-flew the other candidates by a vast margin. The only problem was that the prospective candidates seemed unwilling to try to get along.

"Get out of the way, Ginger! This is my shot!" Shelton yelled.

"It's Ginny!"

"Whatever!"

"And that's my sister you're talking to!"

"Try to get along," Katie called. "Chasers need to work together."

"I'll be sure to slow down so Ginger—sorry, Ginny—can keep up with me."

"Don't worry about me," Ginny snapped. "Look out for yourself."

"Timeout! Team!" Katie waved the team down, gathering them into a huddle. "What do you think of Shelton?" Katie asked, lowering her voice unnecessarily. "Ginny is a given, I think, but I don't know of she can get along with Shelton."

"It's not her fault," Ron said immediately. "Why don't we just get someone else? Marvin did okay."

Jack snorted. " 'Okay' isn't good enough."

"Well, during practice and games, they'll have to work together. Maybe they can learn to get along," Harry said.

"Maybe," Katie said dubiously. "Well, we'll try it out, and if things just don't work, then we'll deal with it then."

"Hey, Pansy!" Cho hurried down the hall towards her.

Pansy glanced at Daphne. "I'll meet you back in the common room later, all right?"

Daphne shrugged, flipping her hair. "Whatever."

"Pansy, could you do me a favor?" Cho panted. "Are you going to Hogsmeade next weekend?"

Pansy frowned. "It's a Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Well, yes," Cho said. "It was supposed to be on the common room boards. Adrian said he put it up in the Slytherin common room."

"I haven't seen any new announcements."

Cho hissed between her teeth. "I'll talk to him about it later. Look, could you put this up in the common room?" She pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Pansy. "Good thing I had an extra copy. Anyway, next week might be the last Hogsmeade weekend before the ball, so anyone who wishes to attend the ball will need to buy dress robes if they don't have them. I was wondering if you could pick out some decorations to use? I'm going to be busy working with the house elves."

Pansy shrugged. "Sure."

Cho smiled, relieved. "Thanks. Just grab a few samples of whatever you like and bring them back to me." She walked away in the direction of the Ravenclaw dormitories.

"Oh, and Pansy?" Cho had stopped in the middle of the corridor and turned back to face her. "Hermione will meet you at the Three Broomsticks, to help you pick out decorations. I've already spoken to her."

Cho whirled around a corner and left before Pansy could reply.

"Great," Pansy said without much enthusiasm.

Granger wasn't in the library. Nor was she in the Great Hall, any of the main classrooms, or the grounds. Pansy considered asking one of the Gryffindors to check the common room for her, but a Gryffindor probably wouldn't be inclined to help her.

"Come on, Granger," Pansy muttered. "Where are you? I need to talk to you." She stopped at the base of the Divination classroom's ladder and decided against going up. Granger wouldn't be up there.

Where else would Granger go?

Something triggered within Pansy's memory: a room filled with books and cushions, where a secret organization met…

She hurried towards the tapestry of that idiot Barnabas. Just as she suspected, the door was already in place. She paused outside it and placed her ear to the wood, listening to see if Granger had company.

Granger did. As she pressed against the wood, she could hear the muted sounds of people yelling hexes and curses.

They had started the D.A. again. Why hadn't Granger told her? It was a perfect opportunity to introduce inter-House unity.

Granger would have to talk to her about the decorations. She couldn't just put it off forever. Pansy would take the opportunity then to talk about the D.A.

She caught Granger on the way back to the common room. "Granger," Pansy said pleasantly. "Could I have a word? We really should talk about the decorations."

"What? Oh, right. Sure."

Pansy pulled Granger by the arm into an empty classroom, letting Granger dump her books on a table.

"Why didn't you tell me about the D.A.?" Pansy demanded, dropping the pleasant façade.

Granger bit her lip. "Well, no offense, Parkinson, but Harry and Ron would find it hard to trust a Slytherin. They would worry that you would use the spells against them."

"Really," Pansy said evenly. "Do you mean they would worry, or you would worry?"

Granger didn't look at her. "Weren't we supposed to discuss the decorations?"

The change of subject made Granger's feelings clear to Pansy. "Have you tried asking them about the possibility?"

"Well, no," Granger admitted. "But with Voldemort's return and all, they would be worried that some Slytherins might use their knowledge to—attack us or something."

"Why? Just because we're Slytherins, that means we must be evil?"

Granger winced. "No, it's not like that. It's just that Gryffindors and Slytherins don't really get along. And you know how it's been with Dr—Malfoy and Harry; they've always fought, and it hasn't really helped Harry's opinion of Slytherins."

"Don't we at least deserve a chance? I thought you believed in inter-house unity!"

"I do!" Granger said defensively. "It's just that—I think—Harry—oh, all right. I'll talk to them."

"You will?"

"Yes," Granger sighed. "You're right, I should have asked them about it in the beginning. Not all Slytherins will be able to join, though, you know," she warned. "I don't think they'll let anyone from the Slytherin Quidditch team in. Maybe you should pick the people who join? You would know better than us which Slytherins are trustworthy. Just pick a few people that you really, really trust. If anything happens, I don't think that they would let any Slytherins in after that."

"All right," Pansy agreed. It was as much to her benefit as it was to Granger's to make sure that any Slytherins chosen were trustworthy and discrete. "How will you keep the other members quiet? I don't want them running off and telling everyone there are Slytherins in the D.A."

"The D.A. members can keep a secret," Granger reassured her. "It'll be fine. Now, for decorations, I was thinking of a red and gold motif—"

"We can discuss the decorations later, there'll be plenty of time on Saturday."

"Could we at least settle the color theme?"

"Fine," Pansy said, irritated. "But we are definitely not decorating the ball in Gryffindor colors. What's wrong with green and silver?"

"How about red and green?"

Pansy dismissed the suggestion with a wave of her hand. "Too Christmassy. How about green and gold?"

Granger hesitated, and then nodded. "That will work."

"All right. Now that that's settled, I'll see you at the Three Broomsticks next Saturday. Will noon be an acceptable time?"

"I'll see you then."

"Great," Pansy said. Going to the door, she opened it a crack and looked around. The hall was deserted. "Later, Granger," she said, and slipped out.

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